Arts & Entertainment
Activist Jodie Patterson to appear at Politics and Prose to discuss family memoir
The book shares her journey as the mother of a transgender child
Activist Jodie Patterson discusses her new book “The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation” at Politics and Prose at the Wharf (70 District Square, S.W.) on Monday, Feb. 18 from 7-8 p.m.
“The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation” recounts Patterson’s journey as the mother of a transgender child. When Patterson’s three-year-old child
Patterson will speak about the book in conversation with Leslie Hall, associate director of the Human Rights Campaignās Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program.
Admission is free. No reservation required. Seating is first come, first served. Visit here for more information.
Out & About
The Rare Book Fair is coming to D.C.
Over 35 antiquarian booksellers from across the country to attend
The Capital Rare Book Fair will bring more than 35 antiquarian booksellers from across the country to D.C. from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 5 at the historic University Club at 1135 16th St., N.W.
This year, the fair will take over two floors in the illustrious mansion on 16th Street and showcase thousands of beautiful, notable, and rare books, maps, and historic documents from around the globe. Exceptional examples that will be offered include leaf 27 of a 40-leaf xylographic Biblia pauperum, a picture Bible from 1465 for $85,000 from Bruce McKittrick Rare Books, among many other intriguing selections.
Tickets are $50 and more information is available on the eventās website.
Friday, April 19
Center Aging Friday Tea Time will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more information, email [email protected].Ā
Go Gay DC will host āDrag Pageantā at 8 p.m. at Freddieās Beach Bar and Restaurant. Net proceeds from this event will benefit EQUALITY NoVa, the local nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing equality in Northern Virginia. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Saturday, April 20
LGBTQ People of Color Support Group will be at 1 p.m. on Zoom. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ People of Color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgment free. For more details, āāvisit thedccenter.org/poc or facebook.com/centerpoc.
Go Gay DC will host āLGBTQ+ Brunchā at 11 a.m. at Freddieās Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Sunday, April 21
Go Gay DC will host āLGBTQ+ Dinnerā at 7 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
AfroCode DC will be at 4 p.m. at Decades DC. This event will be an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes and a crossover of genres and a fusion of cultures. Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.Ā
Monday, April 22
Center Aging: Monday Coffee & Conversation will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of their choice. For more details, email [email protected].Ā
Tuesday, April 23
Pride on the Patio Events will host āLGBTQ Social Mixerā at 5:30 p.m. at Showroom. Dress is casual, fancy, or comfortable. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic self to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.
Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for people who identify outside of the gender binary. Whether youāre bigender, agender, genderfluid, or just know that youāre not 100% cis. For more details, visit genderqueerdc.org or Facebook.Ā
Wednesday, April 24
Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking ā allowing participants to move away from being merely āapplicantsā toward being ācandidates.ā For more information, email [email protected] or visit [email protected].
Asexual and Aromantic Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a space where people who are questioning this aspect of their identity or those who identify as asexual and/or aromantic can come together, share stories and experiences, and discuss various topics. For more details, email [email protected].Ā
Thursday, April 25
The DC Centerās Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5:00 pm if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-682-2245.Ā
Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Communityās website.
Movies
After 25 years, a forgotten queer classic reemerges in 4K glory
Screwball rom-com āI Think I Doā finds new appreciation
In 2024, with queer-themed entertainment available on demand via any number of streaming services, itās sometimes easy to forget that such content was once very hard to find.
It wasnāt all that long ago, really. Even in the post-Stonewall ā70s and ā80s, movies or shows ā especially those in the mainstream ā that dared to feature queer characters, much less tell their stories, were branded from the outset as ācontroversial.ā It has been a difficult, winding road to bring on-screen queer storytelling into the light of day ā despite the outrage and protest from bigots that, depressingly, still continues to rear its ugly head against any effort to normalize queer existence in the wider culture.
Thereās still a long way to go, of course, but itās important to acknowledge how far weāve come ā and to recognize the efforts of those who have fought against the tide to pave the way. After all, progress doesnāt happen in a vacuum, and if not for the queer artists who have hustled to bring their projects to fruition over the years, we would still be getting queer-coded characters as comedy relief or tragic victims from an industry bent on protecting its bottom line by playing to the middle, instead of the (mostly) authentic queer-friendly narratives that grace our screens today.
The list of such queer storytellers includes names that have become familiar over the years, pioneers of the āQueer New Waveā of the ā90s like Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, Gregg Araki, or Bruce LaBruce, whose work at various levels of the indie and āundergroundā queer cinema movement attracted enough attentionĀ ā and, inevitably, notoriety ā to make them known, at least by reputation, to most audiences within the community today.
But for every āPoisonā or āThe Living Endā or āHustler White,ā there are dozens of other not-so-well-remembered queer films from the era; mostly screened at LGBTQ film festivals like LAās Outfest or San Franciscoās Frameline, they might have experienced a flurry of interest and the occasional accolade, or even a brief commercial release on a handful of screens, before slipping away into fading memory. In the days before streaming, the options were limited for such titles; home video distribution was a costly proposition, especially when there was no guarantee of a built-in audience, so most of them disappeared into a kind of cinematic limbo ā from which, thankfully, they are beginning to be rediscovered.
Consider, for instance, āI Think I Do,ā the 1998 screwball romantic comedy by writer/director Brian Sloan that was screened last week ā in a newly restored 4K print undertaken by Strand Releasing ā in Brooklyn as the Closing Night Selection of NewFestās āQueering the Canonā series. Itās a film that features the late trans actor and activist Alexis Arquette in a starring, pre-transition role, as well as now-mature gay heartthrob Tuc Watkins and out queer actor Guillermo Diaz in supporting turns, but for over two decades has been considered as little more than a footnote in the filmographies of these and the other performers in its ensemble cast. It deserves to be seen as much more than that, and thanks to a resurgence of interest in the queer cinema renaissance from younger film buffs in the community, itās finally getting that chance.
Set among a circle of friends and classmates at Washington, D.C.ās George Washington University, itās a comedic ā yet heartfelt and nuanced ā story of love left unrequited and unresolved between two roommates, openly gay Bob (Arquette) and seemingly straight Brendan (Christian Maelen), whose relationship in college comes to an ugly and humiliating end at a Valentineās Day party before graduation. A few years later, the gang is reunited for the wedding of Carol (Luna Lauren VĆ©lez) and Matt (Jamie Harrold), who have been a couple since the old days. Bob, now a TV writer engaged to a handsome soap opera star (Watkins), is the āmaidā of honor, while old gal pals Beth (Maddie Corman) and Sarah (Marianne Hagan), show up to fill out the bridal party and pursue their own romantic interests. When another old friend, Eric (Diaz), shows up with Brendan unexpectedly in tow, it sparks a behind-the-scenes scenario for the events of the wedding, in which Bob is once again thrust into his old crushās orbit and confronted with lingering feelings that might put his current romance into question ā especially since the years between appear to have led Brendan to a new understanding about his own sexuality.
In many ways, itās a film with the unmistakable stamp of its time and provenance, a low-budget affair shot at least partly under borderline āguerilla filmmakingā conditions and marked by a certain ācollegiateā sensibility that results in more than a few instances of aggressively clever dialogue and a storytelling agenda that is perhaps a bit too heavily packed. Yet at the same time, these rough edges give it a raw, DIY quality that not only makes any perceived sloppiness forgivable, but provides a kind of āoutsiderā vibe that it wears like a badge of honor. Add to this a collection of likable performances ā including Arquette, in a winning turn that gets us easily invested in the story, and Maelen, whose DeNiro-ish looks and barely concealed sensitivity make him swoon-worthy while cementing the palpable chemistry between themĀ ā and Sloanās 25-year-old blend of classic Hollywood rom-com and raunchy ā90s sex farce reveals itself to be a charming, wiser-than-expected piece of entertainment, with an admirable amount of compassion and empathy for even its most stereotypical characters – like Watkinsā soap star, a walking trope of vainglorious celebrity made more fully human than appearances would suggest by the actorās honest, emotionally intelligent performance ā that leaves no doubt its heart is in the right place.
Sloan, remarking about it today, confirms that his intention was always to make a movie that was more than just frothy fluff. āWhile the film seems like a glossy rom-com, I always intended an underlying message about the gay couple being seen as equals to the straight couple getting married,ā he says. ā And the movie is also set in Washington to underline the point.ā
He also feels a sense of gratitude for what he calls an āincreased interest from millennials and Gen Z in these [classic queer indie] films, many of which they are surprised to hear about from that time, especially the comedies.ā Indeed, it was a pair of screenings with Queer Cinema Archive that āgarnered a lot of interest from their followers,ā and āhelped to convince my distributor to bring the film backā after being unavailable for almost 10 years.
Mostly, however, he says āI feel very lucky that I got to make this film at that time and be a part of that movement, which signaled a sea change in the way LGBTQ characters were portrayed on screen.ā
Now, thanks to Strandās new 4K restoration, which will be available for VOD streaming on Amazon and Apple starting April 19, his film is about to be accessible to perhaps a larger audience than ever before.
Hopefully, it will open the door for the reappearance of other iconic-but-obscure classics of its era and help make it possible for a whole new generation to discover them.
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